Think back to when you first considered watching HBO’s Game of Thrones. Perhaps you thought to yourself, “Okay it’s medieval times so kings, queens, sword fights… normal stuff” or you were warned, “Once you start, you won’t stop.” No matter how you came to begin your journey in Westoros, you quickly realized this show was not what you expected. And you loved that.
For 10 episodes a year, we watch a large group of characters exist in their own worlds in their hopes to obtain The Iron Throne, while dealing with the preexisting drama of their own lives. Quickly you chose your favorites and prayed for their safety and that they would live to see another episode because lets be honest, hoping for them to make it another season was too large of a dream.
The first rule of Game of Thrones is to never get attached to any of the characters as the show features a high mortality rate. The popular series is based on the A Song of Ice and Fire novels written by George R.R. Martin and first premiered on HBO in April 2011. The show has gone on to break records including becoming HBO’s largest hit, beating out the Sopranos during the shows fourth season.
Throughout the series, fans have seen a large amount of deaths. There is even an interactive graveyard where fans can leave a flower on certain characters graves to pay their respects. Whether it was a character that was a fan favorite or brutally hated, the message remains true that when you play the Game of Thrones, you live or you die.
Out of all the characters that have past on in the past four seasons, there are always the few that faithful viewers can never forget due to the tragic backstory or the severity of the way the character passed. I present to you the top 10 most tragic and gruesome deaths that have occurred on the HBO series. May these characters rest in peace (minus a select few, I hope they got what was coming to them).